Self-management plan using symptoms to guide therapy
| Controlled asthma |
| Patients will follow chronic asthma treatment indicated by their physician |
| Mild–Moderate asthma decompensation |
| Patients will be trained to adhere to the following theraputic plan: |
| Use of short-acting β2-agonists for the control of symptoms, when needed |
| Double dose of inhaled steroid for twice the number of days needed to return to baseline condition (e.g. if 3 days are needed to return to the baseline condition, double dose of inhaled steroid should be maintained for 6 days) |
| Once the cycle is finished and the patient's condition stable, return to programmed chronic treatment |
| Severe asthma decompensation |
| Patients in this therapeutic group should adhere to the following treatment: |
| Use short-acting β2-agonists for the control of symptoms when needed |
| Start a short-term course of oral steroids (prednisone 30–40 mg·day−1 or other steroids at equivalent doses). This therapeutic plan should be maintained for a period of 10–14 days |
| When oral steroid treatment is needed, patients should contact his/her physician in 24 to 72 h for confirmation. |
| Very severe asthma decompensation |
| Patients at this stage are at risk of sudden death, for this reason urgent treatment must be immediately instituted: |
| Short-acting β2-agonists for the control of symptoms as many times as needed and go directly to hospital |